Huntsville gazette., 1887-04-23
INTERSTATE COMMERCE
Important Rulings and Conclus-
ions Of the Communion.
Mistaken Notions Corrected-The Comms-
sion Poweriess to Act Until Com
plants that the Law Has Been
Violated Are Presented.

| F'AcuINGTON, ADfll IC.-1uc lulcE-iOldbc
Commissi n sent to-day to several rail-
roads, whose officials have applied for re-
lief againstt thc short-haul provision of the
law without making a satisfactory show
/ ing OF their grievances, letters calling at
tention to the fact that before the COM
mission can act upon petitions they must
in all cases be properly verified. The
| letters also set forth that
The law under which we are acting lays
down general law, which is presumably just,
| and which must be applied in all cases, unless
| facts are proven which make particular case
| clearly exceptional These should be shown by
the petition which is presented for relief, and
! the commission, before it can grant the relief,
must satisfy itself on investigation that the
facas are as stated. and that they render the
ordinary operation of the law oppressive to an
| extent that warrants an exception being made
In petitioners favor. The
commission does not grant general suspension
as to any road, but gives relief only as to the
traffic between specified points.
[Signedl II. NJ COOLEY Chairman
The commission to-day also made public
document which, they state is the most
important yet issued by them, bearing on
certain clauses of the Interstate law.
The document, while generally ap-
plicable, is in reply to petitions Of
the Order of Railway Conductors
and the Traders and Travellers
Union. Those associations ask: "Are
railway companies prohibited from issu-
ing free transportation to the immediate
families of employees of their own rail-
ways; from issding free or reduced trans
portation to officers of an association
composed exclusively of railway EN-
ployes, while those officers are tempo
rarily out of railway service and ex-
clusively employed by those associationss
May railway companies issue passes to
employees Of other roads on application
of the employees, or must such applica-
tion come from the officer of the company
by which he is employed: May railway
companies issue free or reduced trans
i portation to those who make railway SER
vice their business or trade, while tenn
porarily out of emp loyment and in search
of situatlonsa May railway companies
provide free transportation for delegates
to the annual conventions of an associa-
ton com posed exclusively of railway en-
pioyes, including those who may be tenn
porarily out of employment as well as
members of the immediate families of
delegatess
The applicat tia on behalf OF the Traders
and Travellers Union states the system
under which an additional allowance of
free baggage has been heretofore carried
by commercial travellers, subject to writ
ten agreement for registry and indemni-
fication, which system the commission is
; requested to examine carefully "and ad-
wise us if there is any reason,why rail
road company desiring to do so should not
enter into such an arrangement to grant,
under stated terms, an increased allow
ance of free baggage!"
These two petitions are representatives
of large number of similar applications,
which have been made to the commission,
and have been selected simply because
they indicate the general character Of all,
and enable the commission to announce
certain conclusions to which it has arrived
respecting its jurisdiction and its powers.
1t is obvious from the tenor of such
applications that the impression is
prevalent that this commission has power
to construe, interpret and apply the law
by preliminary judgment We are con-
tinually appealed to for decisions in ad-
vance as to whether common carriers,
said to be willing to adopt certain methods
Of dealing with respect to inter- State
commerce, can do so without subjecting
themselves to the penalties announced
by the statute for violations of it's pro-
visions.
A careful reading of the 'act to regu-
late commerce." under which this COM
mission is organized, will show that no
jurisdiction has been given US to answer
questions like those under consideration.
tits obvious that applications like those
of the conductors and Traders and Trav-
elers' Union have no relation whatever to
the duties imposed upon US by section 4,
and this is the only section OF the law
which the commission has power to sus-
pend or relax.
Seton 13 authorizes complaints to the
commission and confers jurisdiction to
entertain the same Itprovides that "any
person, ETC., complaining of any thing
done or omitted to be done by common
carrier subject to the provisions of this
act, in contraventiOn of the provisions
thereof, may apply to SAID commission by
petition, which shall briefly state the
facts''; but neither the railway con-
ductors nor the Traders and Travellers
Union complain that any common carrier
has violated the law. On the contrary
they both aver that the railway COM
panies do not violate the law
and do not wish to. II a railway COM
pany should issue pass to candidate
and his family to attend the approaching
convention, or should transport three
hundred pounds of baggage free for
commercial traveller under the registry
and indemnity system, and some person,
feeling aggrieved, should make complaint
Of unjust discrimination, it would then be
proper for the comm ission to entertain
the question whether such conduct was
or was not in violation Of the law, and II
so, whether it was or was not with
in the exceptions stated in sec
tion %. Complaints may also De
presented if the charges made by the car
riers arc not considered reasonable and
just, but until questions of this kind come
before us in the way clearly indicated by
the statute, it would be worse than use
less for us TO express opinions or give ad-
vice. We should not only lay ourselves
Justly open to the charge Of assuming m
warranted authority, but should also run
great risk OF involving all concerned IN
what the courts might afterward hold to
De breaches of the law, by hasty and Ill
considered conclusions, based upon ex
parte statements and arguments.
Congress has not taken the manage